Vocational training: Gen Z wants a good working atmosphere and appreciation
SwissSkills has developed the representative study "Gen Z's expectations of the world of work". This examines the requirements and motives of the best professional talents and apprentices from all over Switzerland with regard to the world of work and their employers. The survey, which was conducted across all sectors in spring 2023, is now yielding interesting results.
As a result of demographic change and the shortage of skilled workers, competition for talented workers as well as motivated trainees has intensified dramatically. At the same time, the world of work is undergoing rapid change, which is also influencing Generation Z's expectations and needs of their employers. With the recently completed and Switzerland-wide representative study, SwissSkills aims to make an informative contribution to professional associations and employers. The search for qualified skilled workers and committed apprentices is increasingly one of the biggest challenges for the economy.
The key findings - in three different areas
The recruitment, development and retention of young talent were investigated. The findings of the study show that a good working atmosphere, the team, and colleagues are the most important reasons for both women (94%) and men (87%) when choosing an employer. Job search via traditional job advertisements ranks first for both genders (80%), followed by personal contacts (75%). Social media do not play a major role in the job search.
In the development of young talent, by far the most important requirement for leaders is appreciation, as well as trust and respect (78% for women and 77% for men). Honesty and open communication are the second most important expectations of a manager for both women (65%) and men (61%).
The three main reasons why young people leave a company are interpersonal; a poor working atmosphere (64%), lack of appreciation (62%) and dissatisfaction with the manager (41%) are hardly conducive to longer employee retention. Nevertheless, job security is an important need for both women (50%) and men (44%), even in times of low unemployment and increasing shortage of skilled workers.
Representative for the whole of Switzerland and all industries
The SwissSkills study was conducted in cooperation with Kitoko People. A total of 600 people between the ages of 17 and 27 throughout Switzerland were surveyed online. Of these, 460 were from German-speaking Switzerland, 100 from French-speaking Switzerland and 40 from Italian-speaking Switzerland. The survey sample covers a large part of the industries. The data was collected in the period from March 2023 to May 2023. The respondents were the SwissSkills Ambassadors and all participants of SwissSkills 2022, so the study is oriented towards the best professional talents in Switzerland.
Source: SwissSkills
